


Somewhere Over the Rainbow

by PrincessSelene04



Series: TLC Second Generation [2]
Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Pregnancy, Singing, Sleepy Cuddles, cinder and kai being adorable, cinder is a bit embarrassed that he finds out her secret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22425409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessSelene04/pseuds/PrincessSelene04
Summary: Cinder turned toward the door and stopped singing the second her eyes landed on him. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to get words out. “Kai. I… uh, why aren’t you sleeping?”“I came down to ask you the same question.”
Relationships: Kai/Linh Cinder
Series: TLC Second Generation [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603021
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	Somewhere Over the Rainbow

**Author's Note:**

> I guess this is more of a prequel to what I wanna eventually write for second gen, but I'm posting it in this series anyway because I can.

Kai yawned and stretched his arms above his head as he walked across the terracotta tiles in the narrow hallway. The low ceiling made him almost feel claustrophobic. He couldn’t help wondering why Cinder liked it down here so much. Well, he knew why, _but still._

He stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his uncomfortable dress slacks. He’d much rather wear jeans around the palace when he had no one “important” to see, but Torin always said he had to be ready to be in public at a moment’s notice. With another yawn he rounded the next corner. The hallway widened, ceiling growing higher, and Kai felt himself breathing better.

The lights flickered above, but he didn’t mind that so much. Kai knew the wiring down here was older and more faulty than in the rest of the palace.

What he was concerned about was the fact that it was past three in the morning and his wife had yet to come to bed. It wasn’t unlike Cinder to stay up late tinkering, or even lose track of time even though she had clock in her head, but now more than ever he had cause for concern.

Kai had commed her several times, as did Iko, but neither heard a word from her since before midnight.

It was only fifteen minutes ago that he begrudgingly asked security to track down where Cinder’s ID chip was. He shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Cinder was in the garage, yet he was. 

She was supposed to be taking it easy.

Making it to the end of the hall, Kai was about to walk through the open door when he heard something.

His brow furrowed in confusion.

Was that…?

No it couldn’t be.

In the almost seven years they'd been together and two they’d been married, Kai never heard her sing. He honestly wouldn’t believe she could it if he weren’t so positive that was his wife’s voice.

Kai peaked his head inside the door just to be sure.

Across the room, Cinder sat at a workbench. Grease-stained cargo pants covered her legs and her hair was up in it’s usually sloppy ponytail. Loose strands of mousy brown hair fell out, covering her forehead and sides of her face. Her metal hand held a wrench as she twisted a bolt into an android’s head.

She looked almost exactly the same as the day they met at her mechanic booth. The only difference was that her features were a bit more mature now, a bit fuller and healthier. Well… that and her swollen stomach. She was only four months pregnant, but she looked closer to seven with how fast their baby was growing inside of her.

How Cinder appeared wasn’t what shocked him though. No he was used to her being covered in grease and grime from the garage. What shocked him was the fact that she was _singing_.

Kai knew Cinder had many talents. She was an excellent mechanic. Despite what she thought of herself she made a wonderful Queen of Luna and an even better Empress of the Commonwealth. She was smarter than most people Kai knew. And there was much else he didn’t have the brain power to list at the moment.

But singing?

Cinder being a good--no _beautiful_ \--singer was not on the list of talents he knew she possessed.

Kai silently leaned against the door frame, watching her work and listening to her sing a soft tune. It sounded like something from a movie in the second era. Oh, what was it called? He racked his brain for the name of it, but once again he was too tired to think properly.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he was dreaming up this whole thing. He’d wake up and she’d be sleeping next to him in bed.

Cinder set the wrench down and inspected her handiwork, still singing to herself. _“Where troubles melt like lemon drops, way above the chimney tops.”_ She put the small android down on the bench then rested her hands on her belly.

She smiled, rubbing the bump for a few seconds before pushing herself up from the stool. A yawn fell from her lips, but she sang through it.

Kai could see a grease stain on her cheek and smiled too.

Cinder turned toward the door and stopped singing the second her eyes landed on him. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to get words out. “Kai. I… I, why aren’t you sleeping?”

Was she embarrassed?

She had a beautiful voice, there was absolutely no reason for her to be embarrassed. 

“I came down to ask you the same question.” He moved away from the door frame and walked over until he was close enough to put his hands on her hips. Which he did. “You’re supposed to be taking it easy, Cinder. Dr. Lee said your blood pressure was high last time.”

Momentary humiliation forgotten, Cinder rolled her eyes at his fussing. “I’ve been sitting the entire time. I’m fine.”

“It’s still three in the morning. And we’ve been up since 6. I think you should sleep in tomorrow. I can take your meetings.” He really didn’t want her pushing herself too hard. As much as Kai despised talking to President Vargas, he’d rather deal with him than have Cinder bedridden because she worked herself too hard.

“I took a long nap this afternoon. Kai, I’m okay. Really.” She reached her flesh hand up to his cheek and stroked her thumb over his skin. “But I would like to get going to bed now, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’ve been waiting for you for two hours.”

She pursed her lips. “You could’ve gone to bed without me you know. Or gotten me sooner.”

He should have gotten her sooner. A note to himself for next time then: if Cinder’s not in bed by midnight, find her and drag her to bed if he has too. Well, he wouldn’t be able to drag her. Even pregnant, she was much stronger than him.

“I know. I will next time,” he promised.

She sighed, letting her hand fall from his face down to one of his hands. “I’m okay, you know.”

They both knew that was a lie. She was pushing herself when she had absolutely no reason to. The question remained: why? That’d have to be a conversation for another night. Right now he had to get her--and himself--to bed.

“Let’s get to bed.”

They left the garage, lights automatically turning off when they stepped out, then headed back the way Kai came.

When they got to the main palace, Kai glanced at Cinder with a smile. “So… were you ever going to tell me you could sing?”

Cinder looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. He was sure that if she could, she’d be blushing right then. He didn’t understand why though. Her voice sounded lovely.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Why not?” He wasn’t offended she didn’t want to tell him. He respected her privacy. But he was curious why she didn’t want him to know she could sing. If she was bad at it, then he could understand, but "bad” was the last word he’d use to describe her singing.

“I don’t know. No one knows, and I planned on keeping it that way, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders as they stepped into the elevator then lifted her wrist to the scanner. There was a soft chime, before it started moving up to their floor.

“Iko doesn’t know?”

She laughed. “Aces no. If Iko knew I could sing, she’d want to do karaoke every single night, and I don’t have the energy for that.”

The elevator doors opened and they walked down the hall to their suite. They both went straight to the walk in closet to put on more comfortable clothes. Cinder started brushing her hair in front of the mirror.

Kai wrapped his arms around Cinder, pulled her back against his chest, and rested his chin on her shoulder. His hands moved over her stomach. “How is she?” he whispered.

Setting the brush on the dresser in front of them, Cinder leaned back into his embrace. “She’s good, I think.”

He pressed a kiss to Cinder’s shoulder. “Good. Ready for bed?”

“Mhm.”

They left the closet and crawled into bed beneath the warm duvet. Kai laid on his back, and pulled Cinder next to him. Her right leg tangled with his and her arm wrapped around his stomach. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What song were you singing earlier?” he whispered.

She yawned, nuzzling further into him. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It’s from the Wizard of Oz.”

“I knew it was from an old movie, but I couldn’t remember which one.”

“Peony and I used to watch it together, back before I had to start working. We’d sing along and she’d pretend to be Dorothy, and I’d be the Good Witch, and Iko would be Toto. Sometimes Pearl would join us, but she told me I had to be the Tin Man because, well, you know…”

Kai frowned. He’d heard a lot of terrible things about Cinder’s adoptive family but here’s yet another thing that broke his heart for her.

“In my mind I was always Dorothy though,” she mumbled. “I was going to click my heels and be somewhere else. Somewhere that felt like home.”

Kai held her a little tighter and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Do you feel home now?”

“More than I have in my entire life.”

Silence followed for a while and Kai almost thought Cinder fell asleep. He was wrong though. Cinder started to hum the song again, the melody relaxing him.

Just as she got to the chorus there was a slight bump against his side, making Cinder stop again. “Kai,” she breathed.

“Hm?” He opened his eyes and looked down at her. When did he close his eyes? He must’ve been more tired than he thought.

“She just kicked.”

His eyes widened. “That was…?”

“Yeah.”

Kai shifted, frantically put both of his hands on her belly and hoping to feel their daughter kick again.

Cinder beamed, putting one of her hands over his.

They anxiously waited for her to move again. As the seconds ticked by, nothing happened.

“Sing again,” Kai said.

“What?”

“Try it.”

Cinder sighed, but started to sing again. At the word “rainbow” they felt another little kick against their hands, and she kept singing.

Moving down the bed, Kai smiled as he pressed a kiss to her belly. “Hi there, beautiful,” he whispered. “You like the sound of mommy’s voice, don’t you?” He heard Cinder laugh softly as she sang, but he ignored her. “I do too. I didn’t know just how beautiful it was until today.”

“You’re a sap,” Cinder said.

He lifted his head then moved back up her body to pull her into his arms. “Only for you.”

She smiled, tilting her neck to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Uh huh.” Cinder laid back down and closed her eyes. “Go to sleep, we have to get up in three hours.”

There was no way Kai was waking her up in the morning. She could sleep while he took her vid call with Vargas. He reached over to turn off the bedside lamp. Settling back into the pillows, he buried his face into her hair and closed his eyes. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Kai fell asleep to the sound of her breathing and the hope of hearing his wife sing again soon.


End file.
